The overall aims of this proposal are to use biololgical, biochemical,and genetic techniques to study the normal and abnormal cornea. Normal, wounded and dystrophic human corneas are being studied with cell culture techniques to determine the biosynthetic mechanisms of the structural macromolecules of the cornea and how they are altered in diseased states. Somatic cell hybridization investigations are being utilized to localize the abnormalities of the genes responsible for these macromolecules. Detailed biochemical analyses of the structure and interation of these macromolecules in the normal and diseased cornea are being correlated with the cell culture studies to arrive at a working understanding of the cornea.